Puzzles
by HauntedMoonlight
Summary: Sometimes you have to piece it together, one step at a time. SasuSaku OneShot CharacterDeath


**A/N: **This is my creepiest FanFic to date. Believe me, it's sort of strange. Really strange. But it's worth reading, I think-or at least hope, haha.

I basically started this out with an idea in my head and NO developed plot whatsoever, and it twisted itself into something weird. Good weird.

I don't completely know what to file it under. It's a tiny bit Romance, I guess. But it's also Tragedy and probably Angst as well. Maybe Hurt/Comfort? And it's Mystery and Suspense...ARGH.

But eventually I tagged it Mystery/Tragedy. After much deliberation...

**Title:** Beneath the Surface

**Summary: **"I hate you." His smile was bitter, resigned, "There's a fine line between love and hate, Sakura." Something lurks beneath the surface. If only she knew what. SasuSaku CharacterDeath

**Rating: **M. Actually, it's probably more T, but screw it, I'm just going to slap on a M and be done with it.

**Pairings: **SasuSaku

**Warning/Note: **Naruto is depicted as 'Dark Naruto' in this. Don't take offense, as I love Naruto, but for the sake of the story... Also, Character Death!

**Disclaimer: **Naruto is 100% not mine and belongs to its rightful owners, whoever they may be.

* * *

She didn't know where it had all gone wrong.

She'd been sent on a mission, a reconnaissance mission. Her first job as an ANBU Commander. It seemed to be going along perfectly; she had gotten the information, sent it to Konoha, then…

_She'd gone and gotten herself captured._

_Smart, real smart, _she chastised herself aimlessly. Beating herself up over her failure wasn't going to get her out of the chakra-draining ropes around her wrists, wasn't going to get her away from the dark, musty room in the middle of nowhere.

Once again, she struggled with her binds, wincing as the rope chaffed her wrists.

"…You're going to hurt yourself."

There was no emotion in his voice, nothing at all. It was merely a remark, a fact, an observation. His eyes remained cool. Cold. Like a predator's.

And she was the prey.

"I hate you." She spit the words out. Why did she hate him? She just did. Emotions welled up from within her, none of them positive.

He smiled; it was a bitter smile. A resigned smile. "There's a fine line between love and hate, Sakura."

She hated how her name on his lips caused inexplicable shivers to erupt down her body. She hated everything about him.

_Hate._

That was a strong word, hate. But then again—so was love, and no one had the least amount of trepidation about spreading _that _around.

"Let me go."

"No." His voice had an odd tinge to it. She didn't like it. "Not yet."

Now she was mad. What business was it of his, kidnapping her and stashing her away like an animal? He wasn't even involved with her mission. She _hated _him.

No, she loved him.

She loved to hate him; hated to love him.

He moved closer. Moved his hand towards her. She pressed herself violently against the cold stone wall of her cage. "Don't touch me," she hissed. "I hate you so, so much."

She wanted to go home; home to Konoha, home to her friends, home to her children.

Her children.

She hoped Naruto would take care of them in her absence. Of course he would. She could depend on him. He would play with Misaki and Tsubaka, look over Daisuke.

"I know."

"I hate y—"

For a moment, his dark, haunting eyes almost seemed to flash with pain. She faltered, unsure, startled by this new emotion he was displaying. Vulnerability.

"How are our children, Sakura?"

"They're fine…not that _you _would know." He didn't know and wouldn't know. Know how Misaki had already developed her Sharingan, how Tsubaka was number one in her class, how Daisuke was his mirror image.

How it pained her when they asked _"Where's daddy?"_

How hard it was to protect them from the penetrating stares of everyone in the village.

"Look, I—" Right on cue. He always tried to explain to her. _Explain_. Fat lot of good _explaining_ did to Tsubaka when she woke up in the middle of the night screaming 'Daddy!'

He paused. "Fuck. I got to go."

"Of course." Her voice was flat. He always left.

But this time, it wasn't so simple.

She could tell by the way he hesitated. The way his eyes shifted pleadingly to hers. The way his jaw was set so stubbornly.

It disgusted her that she still remembered him so well.

"I want you to come with me."

"Are you fucking insane?" She wasn't the type to curse. That was _his _thing. She'd always bugged him about his choice of language. Up until the day he left.

"As a matter of fact, I am quite sane."

She couldn't. She knew that. The _children_, for one thing. The fact that she most obviously would've agreed if she didn't have the children to worry about frightened her. She wanted to. Needed to.

The children.

_What about them?_ Her heart screamed. _They have Naruto, they don't need you! He and Hinata would raise them like their own…_

No. She couldn't. "I…"

"You can't return, Sakura."

_Why did he seem so sad now? _

_Why couldn't she say his name?_

_Why did he leave?_

"I…"

A faint thud, thud, thud emanated from somewhere. Somewhere close by, yet so far from her.

"Sakura, remember."

_Remember what? _Remember. She had been on the mission, yes. She'd kissed Misaki, Tsubaka, and Daisuke 'good-bye,' hugged Ino, Hinata,and Naruto. Then she'd left for Otogakure to carry out the mission. But then there was that dark figure, oh so dark.

Dark. Black.

Something had gone wrong.

Before he'd appeared.

_No, he didn't appear, he abducted you! _Something within her screamed its denial.

It wasn't him, he wasn't the one. He wasn't the dark figure.

_Then who_?

Someone.

Someone had followed her, approached her, talked to her. She'd been calm. It was someone close.

Close by. Lullaby.

There had been a lullaby.

Misaki's lullaby. It had been his last gift for her before he'd left them. Left her fatherless. Abandoned her and her siblings and her mother.

_Flames_.

Everything had gone down in flames. It burned, burned, burned. But he had left before that.

_No. He had been taken away_.

By who? Someone close by.

"No," she gasped. His eyes were so sad. She wanted to reach out and comfort him now. But the ropes…

There were no ropes. Only flames. Flames that bound her, were still binding her. She wanted to be with him—but the flames wouldn't let her.

His mouth moved. "I love you."'

He always told her that. They were happy. Misaki and Tsubaka and Daisuke and the two of them. Picnics and parties.

Parties.

It had happened at a party. A movie marathon party for the five of them.

_What had happened?_

"_I love you."_ The words ran through her mind, but this time, they were much more ominous. Like flames, licking at her arms, taking her away.

If they took her away…

_Would they be a family again?_

A family, that's what they were, before someone had gone and destroyed it. Then everything was gone, gone, gone. _Gone With the Wind._ They were in the middle of watching that when it happened.

And then all of it was gone for good.

She felt herself slipping away. But it didn't hurt. She could still feel his eyes on her, protecting her. And their children, their beautiful children were with her now. Hugging her. Calling her name. And his arms were suddenly around her and she felt safety settling over her like a warm blanket of love.

She would go with him this time. "I love you, Sasuke."

-oOoOo-

The monitor let out a long, harsh beep.

"She's gone." Tears tracked down Tsunade's face. "Gone."

"Maybe it's for the best," a saddened Shizune patted her friend's back. "She's with them in heaven now."

They both sat still, reminiscing about the past. About Sakura, Sasuke, and their three young children. About their best friend and "Unc'a Naruto." The same Unc'a Naruto who'd been overtaken by madness, murdered Sasuke, tortured the family before setting fire to them. And only a day after Sakura had been promoted to ANBU Commander and completed her first mission as such.

An emerald-green butterfly hesitated outside the window, its wings fluttering, before circling off into the sky above.

* * *

**A/N: **Now wasn't that a bit confusing and twisty? My head spins just re-reading it, and I'm the one who _wrote_ it.

It was seriously hard ending it, because there HAD to be a bad guy, and it HAD to be someone close to Sasuke and Sakura...and so I was forced to use Naruto. I love Naruto, but he ended up with the short end of the stick this time. Sorry!

To be honest, even after reading it over about 50 times, I'm still undecided to whether it was good or whether it was a drop-dead horrible piece of crap that I call writing. But I decided to take a risk and publish it.

Please review. I need some opinions haha.

Thank you!

~**Haunted**_Moonlight_~


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